The History of Our School BuildingActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning builds memory and curiosity in six- and seven-year-olds when history connects to their daily lives. When children handle real photographs, move sticky notes on timelines, and step outside to notice changes, they see how places grow and adapt over time, not just in books.
Learning Objectives
- 1Identify architectural features of the school building that have changed over time.
- 2Compare photographs of the school from different time periods to identify changes.
- 3Describe how the function of specific school spaces (e.g., classrooms, playground) may have changed.
- 4Explain one way learning at the school might have been different for children in the past, based on evidence.
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Photo Sort: Then and Now Timeline
Gather old school photos and recent ones. In small groups, pupils sort them into a class timeline on the floor, discussing clues like clothing or buildings. Add labels with help from an adult.
Prepare & details
How old do you think our school building is, and what makes you think that?
Facilitation Tip: During Photo Sort, group students in threes so they must agree on one difference and one similarity before placing the photos on the timeline.
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
Interview Chain: Community Voices
Prepare simple question cards like 'What did the playground look like?' Pupils interview school staff or visitors in pairs, record answers with drawings, then share in a whole-class chain.
Prepare & details
What do you notice about how our school has changed over time?
Facilitation Tip: For Interview Chain, model one question with a guest so children see how to follow up and say thank you.
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
School Walkabout: Spot the Changes
Lead a guided tour of the school grounds. Pupils sketch or note differences between current features and old photos, then discuss in groups what might have caused changes.
Prepare & details
What do you think learning at our school might have been like a long time ago?
Facilitation Tip: On the School Walkabout, give each pair a simple checklist: one thing that looks older, one thing that looks newer, and one question they want to ask later.
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
Role-Play: A Day in Old School
Use props from photos for pupils to act out past school routines individually or in pairs. Groups perform and explain one change they learned about.
Prepare & details
How old do you think our school building is, and what makes you think that?
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
Teaching This Topic
Teachers approach this unit by anchoring each lesson in concrete objects: photographs to touch, walls to touch, and people to listen to. Avoid abstract timelines at this stage; instead, use sticky notes and floor spaces so children physically build sequences. Research shows that movement and oral rehearsal before writing help young children grasp chronology. Keep questions open-ended and focus on observable details rather than dates.
What to Expect
Successful learning looks like children confidently noting differences and similarities between old and new photos, sharing what they learned from community voices, and pointing to specific features on the school walk that show change. They should begin to use words like ‘older,’ ‘newer,’ and ‘changed’ accurately when talking about the building.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring Photo Sort, watch for pupils who assume the older photo must look worse or smaller because they expect ‘old’ to mean ‘not good.’
What to Teach Instead
Guide them to compare specific features like window shapes or door handles, and ask: ‘What do we use these for today?’ to highlight functional continuity.
Common MisconceptionDuring Interview Chain, some children may treat the past as entirely separate from now.
What to Teach Instead
After each interview, have the speaker and child stand together holding a ‘then’ and ‘now’ object to show overlap in use, such as a bell or playground ball.
Common MisconceptionDuring School Walkabout, learners may believe all changes happened suddenly around the same time.
What to Teach Instead
Give each pair sticky notes labeled ‘old,’ ‘new,’ and ‘maybe older’ to sort features on the walk, forcing them to notice layers of change rather than one big shift.
Assessment Ideas
After Photo Sort, hold up two photographs and ask students to point to one thing that looks different and one thing that looks the same. Record whether they use spatial language like ‘higher,’ ‘lower,’ or ‘more windows.’
During Interview Chain, listen for students to connect a detail from the guest’s story to a feature they noticed on the walk, such as ‘Your story about the playground ball matches the ball we saw outside.’
After School Walkabout, give each student a piece of paper labeled ‘Old’ and ‘New.’ Ask them to draw one part of the building they think is very old and one change they learned about, then label each with one word.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge: Ask students to find a photograph that puzzles them and write or dictate one question to take home and ask a family member.
- Scaffolding: Provide sentence starters on cards, such as ‘I think this part of the school is old because…’ to support spoken responses.
- Deeper exploration: Invite the school caretaker or governor to share a short story about a change they remember, then have students draw and label the change in a class book.
Key Vocabulary
| Photograph | A picture taken with a camera, often used to record how things looked in the past. |
| Architectural feature | A distinct part of a building's design, such as a window, door, or roof style. |
| Community member | A person who lives or works in the local area and may remember how the school used to be. |
| Chronology | The arrangement of events or dates in the order in which they happened. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for History
5E Model
The 5E Model structures lessons through five phases (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate), guiding students from curiosity to deep understanding through inquiry-based learning.
Unit PlannerThematic Unit
Organize a multi-week unit around a central theme or essential question that cuts across topics, texts, and disciplines, helping students see connections and build deeper understanding.
RubricSingle-Point Rubric
Build a single-point rubric that defines only the "meets standard" level, leaving space for teachers to document what exceeded and what fell short. Simple to create, easy for students to understand.
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